AIBU to think school staff should make care provision for their dogs?

[LoveTheirDogs]

Our headteacher and business manager have both got dogs in the last six months. Now they're bringing those dogs into school. They're saying that the dogs are 'school dogs' which seems to mean that they're dogs that mostly hang around in school. They've also scheduled a number of 'enrichment activities' for the kids so that they can 'learn how to interact with different species' ie their dogs. AIBU to think this is taking the piss and they should just make provision for their dogs same as any other working person rather than having the whole school have to go to these (non-accredited) 'courses' that clearly cost a fortune and are only being put on so that BM and HT can tick a box that says everything is ok with them bringing their pets to work?

Honestly OP, clearly you have issues around animals and you are forcing your issues on the school/others.

Having dogs on site where children can choose to interact with them is lovely. And as a PP said, it's really important for children to develop a healthy relationship of trust and respect with dogs. Service and therapy dogs are very important, so having children that respect animals and understand how to interact from a young age is great.

In our school, the 2 principals (Primary and Secondary) both have residences on site and both have a dog. The girls are encouraged to interact with them, particularly the primary principals', and can take it for walks in breaks etc.

But there are no specific enrichment activities. And in fairness, Secondary principal lives there FT with his young family, and Primary lives there about half of the time (family live relatively locally so he goes home to wife/teens as well). So while pupils MAY interact with the dogs if they wish, they don't need to as the dogs don't roam free during school time (they are allowed more free reign from very late afternoon once sports are over and most daygirls are gone so only secondary boarders and secondary daygirls who stay for evening study are around other than secondary principal's young family).

Resource teacher has told me on a few occasions how the presence of dogs, and ability for someone in need of a friend to take it for a walk, have often been very helpful for a number of pupils in both the primary and secondary.

@Comedycook

You don’t like animals. That’s fine, you don’t have to. What’s really sad is that you’re trying to impose that on your children

Whether the op likes animals or not is irrelevant. The only relevant things is the safety and welfare of the children in the school....hence why she needs to see the risk assessment.

It isn’t irrelevant. She’s not going to be happy when she’s seen the risk assessment, is she? She’s not going to stop hating animals.

They are taking the piss most definitely.

Talk with the governors.

@LoveTheirDogs

Yeah it would be much better for them if we could all just kumbayah and pretend that having pets is notweird, that owning an animal for your own entertainment is a-ok and legit, and that who gets to take their pets into their workplace is not a decision based on hierarchy. Which seems to be how things are, which seems to suit you, so good for you.

So you hate pets generally and despise those who keep them.

I’m sure that an awful lot of children who are apparently afraid of dogs would be less so if their parents weren’t so hysterical over dogs. The hysteria has increased over the years to the extent I think that children are being conditioned into a fear of dogs.

I am indifferent to dogs, DD used to like them, but is now scared of them after being knocked down on three occasions by dogs with shit recall while their owners stood there bleating “oh he won’t hurt her”. These were dogs we’d had no interaction with before they came running over. DD is only 2.5, so she’ll hopefully grow out of it, but let’s not pretend wariness of dogs is only down to the behaviour of parents.

The dogs in school I’d have no issue with providing they were properly trained.

DCs primary used to have a couple of school dogs. It was brilliant!

I am a school governor who is not a dog lover, so there was some pretty robust questioning when the Head introduced his dog as a ‘school dog’ (state secondary school). I am however converted to dogs in schools (although I am still not a dog lover) having seen the huge benefits it brings. Reluctant readers will happily read to the dog, those who have been through something difficult seem to find it easier to tell the dog and tense situations de-escalated by getting one party to walk the dog round the playground. We have a detailed risk assessment in place, covering all the points mentioned by previous posters. Any other member of staff would be allowed to bring their dog too as long as they put them through the training course in their own time and at their own expense. So far one other member of staff has. The dogs don’t go into classrooms.

I have had to accept that my initial reaction of “dogs have no place in a school has been proved wrong”

@Stellaris22

Honestly OP, clearly you have issues around animals and you are forcing your issues on the school/others.

Having dogs on site where children can choose to interact with them is lovely. And as a PP said, it's really important for children to develop a healthy relationship of trust and respect with dogs. Service and therapy dogs are very important, so having children that respect animals and understand how to interact from a young age is great.

That is a ridiculous response to the OP.

As an ex-teacher of 28 years, and a mother of three, I would have objected strongly to this nonsense.

Dogs are unhygienic, never 100% trustworthy in H&S terms, and not liked or appreciated by everyone, children and/or adults.

IMO it is extremely selfish of these senior staff to impose this onto their school environment and I would be very unhappy with it.

Someone does not have 'issues' if they object to dogs per se.

@ WhatNoiseDoUnicornsMake so how far do you take your “shouldn’t be allowed” stance?

Should I not be allowed into the school playground with my guide dog? Not into the classroom? Not into restaurants or shops where your child might be?

I agree there is a difference between a dog which is allowed to roam randomly and one which is under control, but dogs are a fact of life. Not wanting to go to somewhere where there is a random dog wandering around with no supervision or control is one thing. But not wanting dogs to be anywhere your child might be is completely different.

My dog is allowed everywhere. Including into the children’s playground when I used to go there. But he is always on lead and made to lie down if we’re out and not actually moving.

Rather than objecting to dogs as a whole, surely it’s time to start putting more emphasis on the need for well behaved dogs who do come back when called, who do obey the most basic commands.

My dogs have been trained by a trainer but their behaviour is enforced by me, because I expect my animals to be well behaved.

We need to find a way to make general pet owners be the same.

LOL at "hating animals". Only a self centered Brit could extrapolate that from someone feeling uncomfortable with pet ownership as it presents in this country.

Rather than objecting to dogs as a whole, surely it’s time to start putting more emphasis on the need for well behaved dogs who do come back when called, who do obey the most basic commands

This x 💯

It isn’t irrelevant. She’s not going to be happy when she’s seen the risk assessment, is she? She’s not going to stop hating animals

It doesn't matter if she hates animals. Most of us don't send our DC to school expecting a dog to there. And if a dog is there it should be for the overall benefit of the children, not just a convenience for the teacher who doesn't have doggy daycare in place.

@LoveTheirDogs

LOL at "hating animals". Only a self centered Brit could extrapolate that from someone feeling uncomfortable with pet ownership as it presents in this country.

I didn't say "hate animals" - I said hate pets, as in, hate the concept of animals being owned as pets.

You do seem to have a thing about Brits though, given your comments in this thread.

Can the tea

@AlternativePerspective

@ WhatNoiseDoUnicornsMake so how far do you take your “shouldn’t be allowed” stance?

Should I not be allowed into the school playground with my guide dog? Not into the classroom? Not into restaurants or shops where your child might be?

I agree there is a difference between a dog which is allowed to roam randomly and one which is under control, but dogs are a fact of life. Not wanting to go to somewhere where there is a random dog wandering around with no supervision or control is one thing. But not wanting dogs to be anywhere your child might be is completely different.

My dog is allowed everywhere. Including into the children’s playground when I used to go there. But he is always on lead and made to lie down if we’re out and not actually moving.

Rather than objecting to dogs as a whole, surely it’s time to start putting more emphasis on the need for well behaved dogs who do come back when called, who do obey the most basic commands.

My dogs have been trained by a trainer but their behaviour is enforced by me, because I expect my animals to be well behaved.

We need to find a way to make general pet owners be the same.

Guide or other service dogs, yes. Events with trained service dogs, yes. A teacher bringing their pet in, no. Especially since it is roaming around the school and the head has no idea where it is most of the time. She thought it was rather charming when I was showed around the school with my eldest. I'm surprised you bought it into a children's playground, round here the signs say no dogs allowed , sometimes see them tied to a fence outside.

I hate dogs, so does my husband. We kept it mute from our daughter but can see she doesn´t trust them an inch. I don´t trust the owners an inch either. Most haven´t a bloody clue and their dogs ignore them. If this activity were with a professionally trained dog, I would be ok with it. But with a joe bloggs´s dog, a rescue from wherever, who we don´t know what psychological baggage it has from being perhaps neglected and beaten, no, I would not want it around my daughter.

Our school caretaker used to do this and someone complained to the education department who then got in touch with the head teacher and they were told under no circumstances should the dog be on school grounds. I wonder where they would stand if the dog bit a child?

I think it depends on many things. In my sons school lots of teachers have their dogs with them in lessons. My son says the dogs are normally curled up relaxing. However where dh works one unrelated member of staff to dog owner is 50/ 50 doing their job an caring for the dog. It's a manager and abusive of his down line to be his dogs skivy.

Can the teachers, dinner ladies and tas bring their dogs?

I'd be cross if I was getting paid minimum wage for a classroom based job and senior leadership decided appropriate dog care was too expensive on them at tenfold my wage.

I’m all for dogs in schools, workplaces etc so long as allergies and other problems are considered and addressed.
I think your take on it seems quite negative and based on your own personal dislike and interpretation rather than considering the potential benefits:
Mental health particularly in schools is a problem and has been worse due to disruption
Contact with Animals reduce stress for most people and help mental health.
Teaching the care of animals promotes self care which at that age is important to learn
Lonely, bullied children are likely to find comfort in an animal that doesn’t judge socially as most school peers will.
I’d be happy they’re trying something and yes it probably is only head and deputy head as they will carry the can if it doesn’t work and while 2 dogs may be great, 10 dogs is unworkable.
I would love an office dog, when wfh would often spend 15 minutes just cuddling dog on lunch or if having a stressful time - worked wonders

@SVRT19674 this is about where I am.

YANBU. I like dogs but am allergic to them, as many people are, and I'm so sick of this 'dogs should be welcome everywhere' thing.

DDs headteacher brings her dog in occasionally, the kids love him. He sits there looking happy as anything. I'm fine with it as long as it's a well controlled dog whose happy around the children and he's not forced on them - I know our headteacher stays in one specific room and it's up to the children if they want to see him, and they don't have to stroke him even if they look at him.

@ SickAndTiredAgain it goes without saying that a child who has been jumped on by an out of control dog will naturally be fearful of dogs as a result. I went into a preschool once to talk about braille and the children came to stroke the dog and two of them didn’t want to because a lab puppy had jumped up at them in the queue wen going in. She was a guide dog puppy in training of all things whose puppy walker had been putting it about that if she was rejected she would get to keep her. so hadn’t put enough emphasis on her behaviour. I rang the organisation and reported her, because people like her make it more difficult for people like me.

But you only have to look at threads on here from people who say they refuse to allow their children to visit friends who have dogs, who won’t go to their MIL’s house because they have a dog, and on and on, with seemingly no reason other than that they don’t like dogs and have convinced themselves and their children that all dogs are slavering monsters just waiting to savage them.

There are aggressive dogs, of course there are. But plenty of dogs aren’t.